Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Short Interest Up 39.5% in March

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a growth of 39.5% from the February 28th total of 2,960,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 914,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider David Perla sold 3,000 shares of Burford Capital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.61, for a total transaction of $43,830.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 82,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,205,164.29. The trade was a 3.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Aviva O. Will sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.61, for a total value of $109,575.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 310,979 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,403.19. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,468,305 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Burford Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUR. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Burford Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $265,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Burford Capital by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 480,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Burford Capital by 2,032.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 22,192 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Burford Capital by 129.1% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 116,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 65,398 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Burford Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $375,000.

Burford Capital Stock Performance

BUR traded down $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $13.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,312,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 984,631. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.44. Burford Capital has a one year low of $12.07 and a one year high of $16.77. The company has a quick ratio of 15.75, a current ratio of 15.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.62). Burford Capital had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $65.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.38 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Burford Capital will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Burford Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a yield of 1.8%. Burford Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.46%.

Burford Capital Company Profile

Burford Capital Limited provides legal finance products and services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Capital Provision, and Asset Management and Other Provision. The Capital Provision segment provides capital to the legal industry or in connection with legal matters directly and through investment in private funds; legal risk management services; lower risk legal finance business focusing on pre-settlement litigation matters with lower risk and lower expected returns; post-settlement finance; and complex strategies in which it acts as a principal and acquires assets that are mispriced.